Transparency
by sbartist357
Summary: Kowalski is working on yet another experiment, one that, like many others, goes horribly wrong. He doesn't know it yet, but it will take the help of a friend to get him out of this mess.
1. Experiment Gone Wrong

**Happy October, everybody! :D It's sbartist357 here with another PoM story for your reading enjoyment! :) This one is a little different from my other stories for the following reasons: It's slightly more serious than my other fanfictions, and it's also the first story I've written where humor is not an emphasis (there will be a couple of funny parts later on, though). Okay, now that I got the preliminary notes out of the way, enjoy this (very short) first chapter! :)**

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It was nighttime in New York City. The zoo had already closed, and all the animals had gone to sleep. Except one.

Kowalski was in his lab, busy working on yet another project. He had been experimenting for weeks now, trying and failing to come up with the proper formula, often late into the night. It was hard working on such little sleep, but he just couldn't stop now - he was so close to finishing it. Kowalski was attempting to make an energy drink that would give them an instant boost for two hours. He figured it would be useful for when they were on a night mission, or whenever Skipper couldn't get his regular fish coffee.

The experimental drink was bubbling in a test tube positioned over a small burner. Kowalski turned the burner off and let the blue mixture cool for a few minutes. He carefully touched the test tube with his flipper - the glass was completely cool. Kowalski scratched his head, puzzled; he figured it would still be slightly warm. Regardless of that, he shrugged, picked it up, and gently swirled the liquid around.

"Well, now it's time to test it." He murmured to himself. He raised the glass up to his beak. Normally, whenever he wanted to test something, he would have one of the others (a.k.a. Private) try it out. However, he always made it a rule to test these types of experiments on himself first.

He would soon learn that was a wise decision.

Kowalski started drinking the concoction. It tasted like blue-raspberry, which was a good sign (at least the flavoring was precise). Now he just needed to see if it would boost his energy and-

Suddenly, Kowalski started to feel dizzy. He placed his left flipper on his head and stumbled a little. His entire body started to feel cold and numb.

"What's. . . happening. . . to. . . me?" He collapsed onto the floor, the remaining liquid spilling out of the test tube he was still holding. The last thing he saw was the ceiling of his lab.

And everything went black.

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 **Oh, no! D: Poor Kowalski! Is he okay?! :[ Keep reading! :)**


	2. Transparent

**Hello, there! Welcome to chapter two! :D I wasn't expecting to get any reviews for the first chapter (since it was super short), but I did! :) Thank you to Penguin1000 (Guest) and Zyar for your feedback! I've replied below:**

 **Penguin1000 (Guest): Thanks! :D As for Kowalski's condition, you'll find out in this chapter! I'm happy to hear you're liking it so far! :)**

 **Zyar: Well, okay (die-hard Kowalski fan, huh?). ;) Clever deduction, there! Yeah, the first chapter is probably not the best intro I've written (it was just meant to be a hook, anyway). ^^; I appreciate your honesty, though. :) I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

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Sometime later, Kowalski opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his laboratory again. He was lying flat on his back.

"Ugh, well I guess that didn't work. . ." He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "I'll try again tomorrow-" He lowered his flipper and gasped: It was transparent, with a hardly-noticeable tint for his feathers. He looked down at the rest of his body to see that it looked the same way.

"What happened!? The last thing I remember was feeling cold and numb and-" Just then, his heart sank as a horrible thought came to his mind:

He was dead.

"No! I-I-I can't be dead!" He stammered helplessly. Slowly, he turned around to look at the spot where he collapsed. All he saw was the glass test tube lying on the floor in a small puddle of blue fluid. Kowalski stood up and tapped his beak, confused.

"Wait a minute. If I was dead, my body would be lying on the floor next to the test tube." He reasoned. "Also, I wouldn't still be in the lab, I would be up on the great ice floe in the sky." He sighed in relief.

He was alive, although he couldn't explain why he was transparent. The lieutenant reached over to grab the test tube, but his flipper went through it. He stood back up; apparently, he was also intangible, at least toward objects.

"That's strange. . . If I'm intangible, why am I not going through the-" Kowalski raised his flippers to stop himself. "Wait, I'm not going to go there. As soon as I start thinking about it, I'll probably start sinking." He let out a terrified squeak as he started to descend into the floor. He jumped up and waddled a few inches away; fortunately, this time, his feet stayed on the ground.

"Okay, note to self: Don't think about sinking through the floor. I'll just think of something else. Hmm. . . I wonder what time it is?" He looked at the clock in his lab, which read 5:59 AM. How long had he been unconscious? He hadn't the faintest idea. If Skipper caught him in his lab this early, he'd be-

"Kowalski? Are you in there?"

Great. Skipper was up. Although that was to be expected since it was now precisely six o'clock. Kowalski frowned as he saw the lab door open and Skipper enter.

"Kowalski, what did I say about you-" The leader stopped mid-sentence. "Kowalski?" He looked around the lab. He couldn't see Kowalski, even though he was standing roughly five feet away. The scientist figured he could just stay quiet and Skipper would never know, but his conscience got the better of him.

"Skipper, I can explain!" To his surprise, the leader didn't acknowledge that he had spoken at all. Skipper turned around.

"Private, Rico! Come in here!" The others waddled into the lab.

"What is it, Skippah?"

"Have you two seen Kowalski?"

"Skipper, I'm right here!" Kowalski said. Nobody responded to him. Private and Rico shook their heads.

"No."

"Uh-uh." Skipper frowned.

"Rico, go topside and see if he's up there." The mohawked penguin saluted and left the room. Private looked worried.

"Do you think something's happened to him?"

"I'm not sure yet, Private." Just then, Rico returned, babbling that Kowalski wasn't outside. He noticed the test tube on the floor and pointed at it. They went to get a closer look.

"Hmm. . . I wonder what this is?" Skipper questioned. Rico leaned over and dipped the tip of his flipper into the blue substance. He stood back up and brought his flipper to his beak to taste it. Kowalski gasped; if he did that, he might wind up in the same predicament he was in! Fortunately, Skipper stopped him.

"Whoa, Rico. We have no idea what that stuff is. Let's just assume it's dangerous, okay?" Rico nodded and let his flipper drop to his side. Kowalski sighed in relief. At least he didn't have to worry about them tasting it, but why were they not listening to him? It was obvious they couldn't see him. Could they not hear him, either?

"Boys, I think Kowalski is missing." The others were shocked.

"Are you sure? Maybe he just went to. . ." Private tried to come up with a logical explanation for Kowalski's absence, but couldn't think of one. Skipper crossed his flippers.

"Private, since when does Kowalski just wander off somewhere?" He pointed at the test tube. "And Kowalski's lab is always clean; that mess on the floor makes me think something happened to him. That's it. Morning training is canceled. We're going to search for him." Kowalski rushed over to the group.

"Guys, I'm right here! I'm not missing!" He tried tapping Skipper's shoulder, but his flipper went right through him. Skipper didn't notice a thing. The lieutenant began to panic. They couldn't see, feel, or hear him! As the other penguins started to exit the lab, he ran in front of them and spread his flippers out in a desperate and futile attempt to stop them.

"Don't leave!" He shouted. He watched as Skipper, Private, and Rico waddled through him. Just before they left, Skipper trembled slightly.

"Did anyone else get a slight chill?" The others shook their heads.

Kowalski stared at him, confused. Did he cause Skipper to feel cold? He didn't feel cold – in fact, he didn't feel anything. Maybe his excitement caused him to become somewhat tangible, if only for a quick second. As for the temperature, it could've been because of the potion, which made his entire body feel cold; instead of affecting him, though, it now affected others.

While he got lost in thought, the others left the lab and closed the door behind them. Kowalski realized he was alone and rubbed his face in frustration.

"Ugh!" What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this mess if he couldn't ask the others for help and couldn't even help himself?

"I need to write some notes on my findings!" He ran over to a table against the wall and tried to pick up his clipboard, but to no avail. He face-flippered.

Right. He needed to think of something else.

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 **Well, that's inconvenient. :/ What can he do now? He needs to get out of this mess somehow. We'll see how he manages in the next chapter! :)**


	3. Communication

**Hey, everybody! Welcome back! :) I got some more reviews! :D Thank you to Penguin1000 (Guest) and Penguins005! I replied below:**

 **Penguin1000 (Guest): Yeah, SO MANY QUESTIONS! XD Yay! :)**

 **Penguins005: Hi again! :) Yeah, Kowalski's invisible to all of them. :O What is he going to do?! :[**

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After asking the other zoo inhabitants about Kowalski's whereabouts, the penguins headed back to their habitat. Skipper decided they should take a break and start searching again later; after all, they didn't even eat breakfast yet. They flipped over the perimeter fence, grabbed the fish that Alice had tossed into their food bowl, and climbed back into their HQ. Skipper and Private sat at the table while Rico grabbed his fish and sat in the corner with Miss Perky; she always knew how to cheer him up. Private rested his face in his flippers and sighed, ignoring the fish sitting in front of him. Skipper ate his own fish and looked at the young penguin.

"Come on, Private, you have to eat something." Private didn't hear him, as he was deep in thought. The small penguin sighed.

"I wonder what could've happened to him?" Skipper nodded.

"Me, too." An uncomfortable silence fell over the HQ. Private glanced at the laboratory door. He placed his flippers on the table and stood up.

"Skippah, can I please go into the lab? It'll make me feel closer to Kowalski." The leader stared thoughtfully at him.

"Alright. Eat your breakfast, first." The small penguin swallowed his fish and walked to the door.

"Private?" He turned around and looked at Skipper. "Don't touch anything, okay?" Private nodded.

Inside the laboratory, Kowalski was standing in the far corner of the room, staring into Skipper's mirror - all he could see was the lab's reflection. He sighed gloomily. Just then, he heard the lab door open. He spun around to see Private enter and close the door behind him. The young penguin waddled over to the fallen test tube and stared sadly at it.

"Oh, Kowalski, I miss you." He murmured. Kowalski frowned; it hurt him to see Private, the happiest member of their team, look so sad. If only he could tell him he was right there-

Wait a minute. Maybe he could find a way to communicate with Private. After all, he was somehow able to make Skipper feel cold earlier. The lieutenant tried to think. As he pondered over possible ways to let Private know he was there, the young penguin turned to leave. Kowalski's eyes widened. Not again. . . He couldn't let this opportunity slip away! It was now or never. He suddenly felt a strange energy inside of him and clenched his flippers. Private reached for the door handle.

"Private!" The young penguin froze. Did he just hear his name? Private turned around.

"Kowalski?" He asked, a bit of hope in his voice.

Kowalski smiled. It worked! He heard him! But he had to act fast. How could he confirm his identity to Private? He wasn't sure if giving a verbal answer would work again, so he came up with another idea. He ran over to a whiteboard on the wall directly across from Private. He saw a dry-erase marker on the table below it, tried to concentrate, and slowly reached his flipper out to grab it. He gasped as his flipper curled around the marker and picked it up; it was the first time he could actually feel anything since he regained consciousness. Without wasting any time, he reached up to the whiteboard and scribbled a single word:

Yes.

Private let out a small squeak. He had just seen a black marker float into the air and write the word "Yes" on the whiteboard across from him. It was Kowalski! He waddled further into the room, his eyes not leaving the board.

"Kowalski! Where are you? Why can't I see you?"

Kowalski felt the marker slip through his flipper and land back on the table. Apparently, he could only interact with objects if he focused on them; once he stopped dwelling on it, he became completely intangible again. He thought of how he could answer Private's questions. There was a camera in the cabinet roughly ten feet away from where Private was standing. Perhaps he could manifest himself enough to show up on a picture, but he needed Private to get the camera first. He didn't know how long this new-found energy would last, and he didn't want to waste it by simply picking up objects. He tried talking again.

"Find the camera." Private blinked. He heard Kowalski speak, but it didn't come out very clear; his voice sounded wispy and hardly audible, like a ghost's. Fortunately, Private was so used to translating Rico's babbling that he managed to make out what the scientist had said.

He looked around the lab and went over to the nearest cabinet. He opened it to see a digital camera sitting on a low shelf. He picked it up and returned to where he had been standing before. Private figured that Kowalski might not be able to answer every single question that he had, so he tried to think of why Kowalski would ask him to get the camera in the first place. Then it hit him.

"Oh, you want me to take a picture of you!" He watched as the black marker floated again and circled the word "Yes" on the whiteboard. Private turned the camera on and aimed it in what he hoped was Kowalski's general location.

"Umm. . . Okay, here we go. One, two, three!" Private pressed the shutter button and the camera flashed. He stared at the LED screen to look at the picture he took. He saw the whiteboard, the table, and-

Private gasped. Standing in front of it was Kowalski; although he looked transparent, Private could still make out his features. The lieutenant had struck a pose when Private took the picture: Kowalski was smiling and had his flippers on his hips; it reminded Private of when he was posing with his two future-selves. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow, Kowalski! You look as smashing as ever!" The scientist smiled; he figured it would cheer him up.

Okay, that worked. What now? Kowalski tapped his beak. Private probably had a lot of questions. He came up with another idea. He wrote a very basic set of instructions on the whiteboard, explaining what he was planning to do. Private nodded and sat down at a table in the middle of the room. Kowalski waddled over and stood across from him.

They were going to do yes-or-no questions. Kowalski would answer with one tap for "Yes" and two taps for "No". He decided on this method of communication since speaking seemed to drain his energy the most. Besides, this exercise would help him practice interacting with objects. Private tapped the tips of his flippers nervously, thinking of his first question.

"Are you. . . dead?" Kowalski concentrated and tapped the table two times. It was very faint, but an audible sound nonetheless. Private sighed in relief.

"Oh, well I'm certainly glad to hear that." He thought of another question. "Did one of your inventions go wrong again and that's why you're like this?"

Across from him, Kowalski frowned. Did he really have to rub it in by adding the word "again" to his question? The tall penguin rolled his eyes and tapped the table once to confirm Private's guess. The young penguin nodded silently.

"Do you want me to let Skippah and Rico know you're okay?" Private jumped slightly at the two loud bangs that Kowalski replied with; obviously, he didn't want them to know anything. Private looked confused.

"Why not, Kowalski? Are you afraid Skippah will get mad at you?" He heard two softer taps in response. "What is it then?" Private knew that wasn't a yes-or-no question, so he tried to think of why Kowalski didn't want them to know. A thought occurred to him.

"Oh, you want to explain it to them yourself when you're back to normal." He said knowingly. Kowalski tapped the table once, softer than before. The tall penguin was starting to get exhausted; manifesting was more taxing on his energy than he realized. He took a deep breath.

Wait a minute. He still needed to breathe.

"I wonder if Private can feel my breath?" He pondered. Kowalski walked around the table (mainly out of habit) and stopped next to his teammate. He took another deep breath and gently blew out. His eyes widened as he noticed the feathers on Private's head flutter a little. The young penguin looked up and touched his feathers.

"Kowalski, is that you?" It was a rhetorical question; who else could it be? Private stood up and turned to his right. Out of curiosity, he stuck his flipper straight out. He instantly noticed that half of it now felt cold. Kowalski looked down at him; Private had touched his midsection. Since he was intangible, the young penguin's flipper went through him. Private retracted his flipper, slightly surprised.

"Kowalski, you're cold!" He remembered something. "Wait a second. Skippah said he felt chilly earlier; he must've touched you, too." The lieutenant concentrated again and tapped the table once. Just then, the two of them heard Skipper's voice.

"Private, let's go! We're going to resume the search!" He frowned. They didn't have to search at all - Kowalski was right there.

"I'm coming, Skippah!" He called back. Private sighed. "Well, I guess I have to go-" He suddenly felt coolness wrap around him; Kowalski was hugging him. He immediately returned the gesture, knowing where Kowalski was based on the temperature difference between him and the rest of the room. Kowalski even managed to rub his back slightly, ruffling his feathers. Private smiled and the two of them stopped hugging.

"Bye, Kowalski." He whispered. He waddled over to the door, waved in Kowalski's general direction, and left, closing the door behind him. Kowalski grinned.

"Bye, Private."

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 **Yay! Kowalski managed to communicate with Private! :D There's still the matter of him getting back to normal, though. :/ So, how did I do? I hope it wasn't too sappy or anything (I'm trying my best)! ^^; Again, it's just meant as friendship (like the genre says). :)**


	4. Reflection

**I'm back! :D Ooh, and I got some more reviews! :) Thank you, people! Look for your name below!**

 **Penguin1000 (Guest): I know, you're so excited! XD Hmm. . . Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out! ;)**

 **Guest: Thank you so much! :) Don't worry, the wait is over! :D You're right; taking your time helps to make better stories (that's why I have a schedule for all of my fanfictions). X)**

 **Penguins005: Thanks! I will. :)**

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Kowalski never realized how boring his lab could be when he couldn't actually do anything in it. He was still slightly weak from communicating with Private, so he decided to rest. The strange thing about being a live ghost was that, although he was exhausted, he couldn't fall asleep. He had tried to but, after wasting a half-hour struggling to find a comfortable position to lie down in, he settled for just sitting on the floor and resting his face in his flippers.

"I really messed up this time. . ." He muttered. His dilemma reminded him of when the Transmatterer turned Julien invisible; at least for him, though, he could still interact with items. Kowalski sighed and stood up.

"I need a change of scenery." He waddled over to the lab door and reached out to grab the handle, but stopped - he kept forgetting that he was intangible.

"This is going to take some getting used to." Kowalski cautiously stuck his flipper through the door, then stepped out into the main room. Everything looked the way it normally did. He glanced at the top bunk and sighed; how he missed lying in his bunk. He turned to face the TV.

"Maybe I can watch some TV to pass the time." He was starting to feel stronger again, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to practice his tangibility some more. He managed to grab the remote and turned the TV on. It was playing "Shirtless Ninja Action Theater". Kowalski smiled and sat on the floor, letting himself become immersed in the program and forgetting his problem for the time being.

An hour later, the show ended and Kowalski stood up. He felt much better now; it was almost as if he was back to normal - of course, he was still the same way he was before he started watching TV. He concentrated and picked up the remote again.

"Well, I guess I'll see what else is on." A noise outside caused him to lose his focus and the remote fell to the floor. The others were coming back! Kowalski panicked. He hastily tried to pick the remote up, but his flipper slipped right through it.

"AHHHH! Why can't I pick it up?!" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, calm down. I just have to concentrate and-" He finally grabbed it and pointed it at the TV. He heard the others getting closer to the fish hatch. Kowalski pressed the power button, but it didn't work.

"Oh, for the love of Doris!" He yelled, repeatedly pressing the button. As he continued struggling with the device, he heard Skipper's voice.

"Did you hear something?" In desperation, Kowalski flung the remote at the TV. Miraculously, it collided with the right button and the TV shut off. The remote crashed to the ground. Kowalski stared at it and shrugged.

"Close enough." The fish hatch slid open and Kowalski ran back into the laboratory just before the others came in. Skipper scanned the room.

"I was sure I heard something down here." His eyes fell on the remote control. "Hmm. . . I don't remember the remote lying on the floor when we left; I was certain it was sitting on the ledge next to the TV."

"Maybe it just fell," Private suggested. Skipper considered this.

"Maybe, but what could've caused it to fall?" Private had an idea, but Kowalski didn't want him to tell them anything, so he decided on a general answer.

"I don't know." He said, shrugging. Fortunately, Skipper dismissed the whole thing.

"Oh, well. We'll search one more time for Kowalski after the zoo closes. After that, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow." The others nodded quietly and sat around the HQ. Private picked up the remote and tried to turn the TV on, but it didn't work. He shook it slightly and tried again. Nothing. Finally, he resorted to tapping it with his flipper. Suddenly, the entire remote fell to pieces. He took a step back in surprise and placed his flippers on his beak.

"Oops!" Skipper waddled over to him.

"What happened?" He asked, crossing his flippers.

"I don't know! I was trying to turn on the telly, but the remote wasn't working! I tapped it a little to see if that would help, and it just broke into pieces!" The leader sighed.

"Private, be more careful next time. Now we have to get another one."

"I'm sorry, Skippah." The young penguin replied, staring at the floor. Skipper went to sit at the table while Private picked up the remains of the remote and placed it in the corner of the room by the TV; maybe it could be repaired. He turned the TV on, changed the channel until he found "The Lunacorns, and sat down in front of it.

Meanwhile, Kowalski stuck his head through the laboratory door and glanced at Private. He waddled over to him and leaned closer to Private's earhole.

"Sorry, Private." The young penguin jumped; fortunately, Skipper and Rico didn't notice. Private looked to his left without turning his head and then back at the screen. He whispered through the side of his beak.

"Kowalski, don't scare me like that!" The scientist blinked in surprise; even though he couldn't see him, Private had still managed to make eye-contact. He smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops."

"You sound a bit clearer now. How come?" Kowalski shrugged.

"Well, I did rest a bit."

"That's good," Private replied. He thought of what Kowalski said at the beginning of the conversation. "Wait, why did you apologize to me?"

"Uhh. . . I broke the remote."

"Oh. What happened?"

"I was trying to turn the TV off after watching 'Shirtless Ninja Action Theater'. The remote wasn't working, so I threw it. That worked since it hit the power button on the TV itself."

"I figured it was you when Skippah said he heard something just before we came in." Kowalski scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah," He started to feel slightly drained, so he decided to end their little chat. "Well, I'll leave you to your lunacorns, now."

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the lab."

"What are you going to do?" Kowalski thought about it. Stare at his equipment with longing? Wallow in misery? Nothing? Those were probably the most likely events, but he knew that wouldn't be very assuring to tell Private.

"I don't know yet," Kowalski said. "I'll try to come up with an antidote somehow, though." Private nodded.

"Good luck, Kowalski."

"Thanks." The lieutenant stood up and headed back to the lab. Private felt something cool brush against him - Kowalski was letting him know he was leaving. Once the cool sensation disappeared, Private sighed.

Although he was still looking at the TV, he was no longer paying attention to "The Lunacorns" - he was thinking of Kowalski. He knew his teammate was smart and was more than capable of creating an antidote, but how long would it take him? A day? A week? A month? Private didn't think he would be able to keep Kowalski's secret for that long. He had an idea on how to help Kowalski; he never wanted to use it again, but he gladly would in order to help his friend. Private decided he would sneak out of the HQ when the others were asleep.

What he planned to do needed to be done in secret.

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 **Ooh, Private has a plan up his flippers. . . What could it possibly be? Will he get caught? :[**


	5. Remedy

**Yay! The next chapter is finally here! Be prepared for a lot of descriptive paragraphs and things! First, I will address the kind people who reviewed for the previous chapter:**

 **Penguins005: Thanks! :) Hmm. . . Well, let's see what happens next!**

 **Penguin1000 (Guest): Thank you! :D Yeah, what is that cute little penguin up to? Aww, thank you so much! :) I really appreciate it! Well, you'll have to read the chapter to find out!**

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Night fell over New York City, and Kowalski was no closer to finding a solution as when he last talked to Private. The lieutenant stared sadly at all the equipment and chemicals in his lab. He had managed to make a few possible solutions, but he wasn't able to try them; apparently, being tangible long enough to drink them was harder than he thought. The other penguins had gone to bed an hour ago, and everything was quiet. Kowalski felt some frustrated tears stinging the back of his eyes, and he tried to blink them away; crying wasn't going to solve anything. However, no matter how much he tried to resist, he soon found himself sobbing with his face in his flippers.

"Ugh! Get it together, Kowalski!" He muttered, angrily wiping away the stream of tears that continued to dampen his transparent feathers. Just then, he heard a soft noise. For a second, he thought it was himself, but a closer listen disproved that; it was coming from the main room. The tall penguin took a deep breath to calm himself down, waddled over to the lab door, and poked his head out.

The others were peacefully sleeping in their bunks. Kowalski was about to return to his lab when some movement caught his attention. Private opened his eyes and carefully shifted to look at the bunk below his to make sure Skipper was asleep. He then looked up to see Rico snoring and hugging his teddy bear. The young penguin slipped out of his bunk and headed to the ladder. He took one last glance at the others before climbing up and disappearing through the fish hatch. Kowalski stared after him. Where was he going? He decided to follow him. The tall penguin stepped through the side door and waddled over to the ladder. He concentrated and managed to touch the ladder just enough for him to climb up and out of the HQ.

It was an unusually quiet night. The lemurs weren't partying for once and the moon shone brightly, illuminating the pathways with a soft white glow. Kowalski noticed Private head in the direction of the clock tower and waddle behind a brick wall. The lieutenant jumped through the perimeter fence and slid after him. Private was trying to be extra secretive, as he kept glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. - if Kowalski wasn't invisible, he would've been caught for sure.

Finally, Private stopped in front of the zoo's fountain. Kowalski stood about twenty feet away, confused. What was Private doing? He watched as the young penguin pulled out a penny and held it with both flippers. Kowalski started to understand: He was going to make a wish. Private shut his eyes and held the penny close to his chest.

"I wish Kowalski was back to normal." He murmured. The small penguin tossed the coin into the fountain and sighed. The scientist stood there, more puzzled than before. As much as he appreciated what Private was trying to do, he knew it wouldn't work. Tossing a coin and making a wish simply didn't-

Kowalski gasped as a strange tingling sensation overtook him. He fell to his knees and wrapped his flippers around himself: He felt cold. He closed his eyes as his body temperature continued to drop. Then, the feeling left just as quickly as it had come. He was breathing heavily and shaking. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at himself: He wasn't transparent anymore. Private's wish came true! Kowalski looked up at his teammate; the small penguin was still standing by the fountain and staring at the water, obviously deep in thought.

". . . Private. . ." Kowalski murmured. The young penguin snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at him. The smile that crossed his face could only be described as pure joy.

"Kowalski!" He ran over to him and gave his teammate a tremendous hug. The lieutenant hugged him in return. Private began crying tears of joy.

"Oh, Kowalski! I'm so glad you're back to normal!" He sobbed. The tall penguin rubbed his back gently.

"Me, too. Thank you so much, Private." They stayed that way for a long time, happy that everything was as it should be. Finally, Private let go and helped Kowalski up. After a few minutes of silence, the scientist spoke again.

"I never knew the fountain granted wishes."

"Actually, you did." Private blurted out. Kowalski blinked.

"What?" The young penguin quickly covered his beak, but it was too late. He sighed and looked his teammate straight in the eyes.

"Kowalski, can you keep a secret?" The lieutenant was slightly surprised. He was never asked this question before; normally, Private would be the one everyone confided in. However, he owed Private big-time for wishing him back to normal, and he was going to do everything he could to repay him.

"Okay." He replied. Private studied his face for a moment, probably to see if he was telling the truth, and nodded.

"Remember that time we were in Alice's office trying to win that radio contest, and I wound up getting buried under all those pennies?" Kowalski thought back to what Private was referring to. Rico had gotten annoyed and accidentally hit Private with the telephone, causing him to fall off the desk with the penny jar.

"Yes."

"Well, Skippah asked me to get rid of the pennies, so I came here to the fountain. Mort was sitting on the ledge, chewing on a penny. I told him he could use the penny to wish for gumballs. He did and, a few seconds later, there were gumballs sitting in front of him! That's when I realized the fountain was truly magical. I told you and the others; you didn't believe me, but Skippah had us all go to the fountain to 'humor me'." Private said the last couple of words with a hint of annoyance. Kowalski simply nodded, and Private continued.

"He made you go first. You wished for a full-phase plasma blaster with repeating action and laser-sights. At first, nothing happened, and you started saying that you threw away every scientific law you held dear for my little 'flight of fancy'. Then, it worked. You were thrilled. Skippah limited us to just one wish each; he figured the fountain's power was dangerous. He got a mustache disguise, Rico wished for a motorboat, and I asked for scallops. Unfortunately, Julien saw us and began wishing for all kinds of things. He told the others about it, and soon everyone was making wishes. Skippah tried to stop them, warning them that it was getting out of hand, but they didn't listen." Private's voice started to falter, the emotions from the event flooding back to him. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

Kowalski frowned. It had to be an actual account. How else would Private remember all those details so vividly, especially that part about the plasma-blaster? The young penguin wiped some tears from his eyes and went on with the story.

"Eventually, Alice came over to the fountain and saw me, so I ran off and hid. I looked back and saw there was a stray penny on the ground. She picked it up and. . ." His voice trailed off.

"What?" Kowalski inquired; he had a strong feeling in his gut that it was something bad.

". . . she wished that she knew all about us. You and Rico were in the HQ, testing your new ray gun. The weapon blew a huge hole in the roof. Alice got her wish: She found out about our operation. That night, we were put in cages and were heading to a government facility to be. . . dissected." The young penguin buried his face in his flippers, sobbing.

Kowalski's heart sank. Getting exposed was their biggest fear as a team and, according to Private, it had actually happened. He gave Private a comforting hug. The small penguin spoke between sobs, his voice muffled.

"As we were being escorted away, we passed by the fountain. I told Skippah I was going to make a wish, and Rico gave me a penny. I wished that none of it had ever happened, and threw the coin as hard as I could. It almost didn't work, since it went onto the concrete ledge, but it landed in the water, and my wish was granted. The whole incident, well, reversed itself, like a videotape. When it finished, I was back in the pile of pennies and you were telling me to take it easy."

Kowalski stared off into the distance. He remembered that - they were all confused as to why Private was cheering and saying that nothing had ever happened. Now he knew why: Private had saved their lives. It was then that he realized he would never be able to repay Private for what he's done; they were all in his debt.

"It's okay, Private. You made sure it never happened. I promise to keep this a secret, just between you and me." The little penguin sniffled and nodded.

"Thank you, Kowalski." The scientist smiled.

"You're welcome, Private." He gently pried his teammate off him. "Let's head back to the HQ; it's getting late. We have a lot of training to do tomorrow." Private laughed.

"You sound like Skippah." Kowalski grinned.

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth. Besides, I can't wait to sleep in my bunk again." He wrapped his flipper around Private's shoulders and they walked back to their habitat.

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 **Well, there you have it: Private's wish saved the day! :D Now Kowalski is finally back to normal! As you may have already guessed, Private told Kowalski all about the events from the episode "Wishful Thinking", so now he knows what happened. Again, I hope this chapter wasn't overly sappy or lame or something (this is my first time writing a friendship story, people!). XD There's just a teensy-tiny detail left to take care of now: Kowalski needs to explain his "absence" to Skipper. Will he keep his promise to Private? How will the conversation between Kowalski and Skipper play out? :O**


	6. Reunion

**Okay, here's the final chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed throughout this story! :D As for the feedback I received from the previous chapter:**

 **Penguins005: Perfect, indeed! :D I hope you like their conversation! :)**

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The next morning, Kowalski woke up first. He quietly got out of his bunk and glanced at his teammates. He was so glad to be back to normal again. He decided to surprise Skipper - the leader would be waking up soon. The tall penguin went over to the coffee maker and turned it on. He then slipped into his lab to clean up the small mess he made throughout the course of experimenting the previous day. It didn't take him long, and he went back out into the main room. Skipper was still sleeping. Kowalski glanced at the clock to see that it was 5:55 AM. Not wanting to wait any longer, Kowalski approached his bunk and gently nudged him.

"Skipper, wake up." He murmured. Skipper turned away from him, still half-asleep.

"Mom, just five more minutes." Kowalski smiled.

"I'm not your mother. It's me, Kowalski."

"Well, Kowalski, give me five-" Skipper realized what he just said and quickly sat up, now wide awake. "Kowalski?" The lieutenant nodded.

"Yep." Skipper got out of his bunk and stared at his second-in-command.

"Where have you been? We were looking all over for you!" He said it with more concern than anger.

"Well, it's a long story. . ." His voice trailed off as he turned to glance at Skipper's coffee maker. "Your coffee is ready; you might want to grab that, first."

"Oh. Thanks, Kowalski." Skipper went over to the machine to pour himself some coffee, then followed Kowalski into the lab. Skipper sat down on a concrete block next to one of the tables; Kowalski opted to stand in front of him.

"Okay." Skipper said. Kowalski took a deep breath.

"Well, this might seem a bit farfetched, but I was working on a project and something went wrong."

"Again?" Skipper replied, raising an eyebrow. Kowalski frowned.

"YES, AGAIN!" He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, it was supposed to be a sort of energy drink, which would give the user roughly two hours of, well, energy. I thought it would be good for missions or when you couldn't get your normal fish coffee." Skipper glanced down at his coffee for a moment before looking at him again.

"Hmm. . . That's an interesting idea, but what's so farfetched about it going wrong?"

"It's not the fact that it went wrong, Skipper, it's how it went wrong. I was working late in here the night before and, when I drank it, I started to feel cold and numb all over. I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was. . . transparent." Skipper needed a moment to take this in.

"You mean you were here the entire time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I tried to, Skipper! Apparently, you couldn't hear or see me! The drink turned me into a. . . living ghost, for lack of a better term. Remember when you and the others were leaving the lab to go search for me, and you suddenly felt cold?"

"Yeah."

"You walked through me; that's why you felt that way." There was an awkward silence - after all, how else would Skipper react to hearing that he literally walked through Kowalski?

". . . Okay." Was all he could think of to say. "Continue."

"Well, later on, Private came in here all upset about my disappearance. I figured I'd try to communicate with him since I managed to affect you earlier. Long story short, I was able to let him know the very basics of what happened."

"So Private knew as well? Why didn't he say something?"

"I told him not to; I wanted to explain what happened once I got back to normal." Skipper nodded in understanding. Kowalski continued.

"The second time you guys left, I went to watch TV. I wound up breaking the remote when I heard you guys coming back. I managed to become tangible enough to press the power button, but it didn't work, so I resorted to flinging it."

"Oh. I thought Private did that; he said all he did was tap it and it fell apart."

"Yeah. I apologized to him while he was watching 'The Lunacorns'. We had a short conversation before I came back in here to try and create an antidote." Skipper blinked in surprise.

"Wow. He did a pretty good job at that; I didn't know he was talking at all, and I was sitting at the table to entire time!" He paused and set his mug on the table. "So, how exactly did you get back to normal? Did you really find a cure that quick?" Kowalski shook his head.

"No. Private found a different way."

"What?" The lieutenant took a deep breath.

"As much I'd like to tell you, Skipper, Private made me promise to keep it a secret." Skipper crossed his flippers; he obviously didn't like that as an answer.

"Even from me?"

"Yes, even from you. Believe me, Skipper, you do not want to know what he told me. Let's just say that we're all in his debt." The leader stared at Kowalski for a long time. As much as he wanted to know what Private said to him, he would respect his privacy; after all, there were things that Skipper himself wouldn't tell his team, like what happened in Denmark.

"Alright. I won't pry." Kowalski sighed in relief.

"Thank you, sir." Skipper nodded, picked up his mug, and waddled over to him. He gave the lieutenant a warm smile.

"It's good to have you back, even though you weren't really gone in the first place." He said, placing his free flipper on the taller penguin's shoulder. Kowalski grinned.

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess it's time to wake the others up for training; we all have a lot to catch up on." Skipper waddled toward the door and went into the main room. Kowalski suddenly thought of something.

"I'll be right there!" He went over to his clipboard, which had his notes on the energy drink, and tore the pages out. He crumpled them and threw them into a nearby trash can.

This was a project that he had no intention of finishing.

 _ **The End**_

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 **That concludes my first-ever friendship story. I really hope you liked it! :) If you haven't done so already, please favorite and/or review! I put a lot of time, effort, and thought into my stories, so please share your feedback so I can improve! :D Also, check out my profile page for more fun stories (you can follow and/or favorite me there, too!). :) See you next time!**


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